15th November, 2019
Turkey and France qualified for the Euro 2020 finals on Thursday. Turkey, second in Group H, secured nomination with a goalless draw against Iceland,
France that went into the matchday tied on 19 points with Turkey, overtook them after beating Moldova 2-1. France now have 22 points and Turkey 20.
Third-placed Iceland are out of the running as they have 16 points with one qualifier remaining.
Both Iceland and Turkey struggled to make an impact with Turkey striker Burak Yilmaz failing to find a way past Iceland keeper Hannes Halldorsson.
The hosts pressed harder in the second half but Iceland’s defence kept them from scoring.
Midfielder Ozan Tufan came close to scoring in the 63rd minute but his effort brushed past the crossbar.
Iceland also missed a chance to score in the closing stages when Hordur Magnusson’s header was blocked by Turkey defender Merih Demiral on the line.
Moldova shocked hosts France when they went ahead with nine minutes on the clock as Clément Lenglet’s scruffy defending gifted Vadim Raţă the opportunity to slot in.
Raphaël Varane levelled for Les Bleus as the hosts piled pressure on the deep-lying visiting defence, which eventually buckled, conceding a penalty late on which was clinically converted by Oliver Giroud.
France and Turkey join Belgium, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, England, Czech Republic and Ukraine as the teams who have already qualified for the tournament that will be staged across 12 European countries from 12 June to 12 July 2020.
Portugal will have to wait to know its fate despite demolishing Lithuania 6-0 on Thursday.
Qualification is still not absolutely certain for the European champions despite a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick that took him on to 98 international goals. A penalty and a fine second set him on his way, and he completed his treble with Portugal’s sixth, Pizzi, Gonçalo Paciência and the excellent Bernardo Silva having scored numbers four, five and six.